Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier
Members of the Los Altos High School graduating class of 1998 perform the traditional tossing-of-the-caps at last Wednesday's commencement exercises on the school's athletic field. Of the 333 graduates, 289 plan to attend college, with some going to top universities. Mountain View High School's class of '98 also participated in June 10 graduation ceremonies. The Mountain View ceremony featured a stirring tribute to former principal Tom Baer.
Town Crier Staff Writer
Honors, congratulations handed out at LAHS, MVHS commencements
Huddled in blue caps and gowns under a canopy of gray clouds, members of the Los Altos High School senior class didn't allow the foreboding weather to spoil their last time together at the June 10 graduation ceremony.
Senior Kregg Quarles summed up the class with one word - "Pride. Not the kind that leads to selfishness, but to outstanding achievement."
Quarles said this pride began freshman year, when his class beat the seniors at tug of war. "We haven't lost since," he said.
Quarles said over the past year, the football team won the homecoming game for the first time in 12 years; the math league placed third in a state competition; and the school ended the track and field season with its best record in four years.
Darren Marble becoming state champion in the high jump, he said.
This pride will carry graduates on to achieve the best in the future, Quarles said.
The Class of '98 presented the school with a tug of war rope, to "pass their spirit" on to future graduates.
Classmate Jon Wiener said Los Altos High may be comparable academically and athletically to other schools, but its climate helps to foster the kind of pride exhibited by his class.
"(The school) enabled us to grow as people. It gave us the gift of knowing how and when to speak our minds," he said.
Principal David Brazer said the class had numerous heroes, "students who spoke their mind in a "fearless manner" and those who have quietly done what they believe to be right just because it will help others."
Of the 333 graduates, 32 earned National Honor Society awards, 51 graduated as Gold Seal Graduates and three maintained perfect grade-point averages.
About 289 graduates plan to attend college, with about eight students going on to top universities such as Stanford, Yale and Princeton.
During the ceremony, Lynn Wang and Robert Jahn were presented with the Eagle award for their outstanding leadership at Los Altos High.
Chan Thai and Marisia Ybarra won the Community Service Award for their more than 3,000 hours of community service.
The ceremony was a bittersweet occasion for many of the graduates, the majority whom got to know nearly every classmate over the past four years.
Graduate Josh Mandel, who plans to attend the University of California at Los Angeles to study film in the fall, said "meeting people of different ethnic backgrounds" is something that will forever impact his life.
Classmate Hector Serrano said he too will "miss all my friends and teachers who supported me a long time."
Charlene Choy, who transferred to Los Altos High last year from Malaysia, said though she was only at the school for a short time, she quickly made many friends, whom she said she will miss when she goes to the University of California at Santa Barbara.
"I'm an outgoing person, so it was easy to make friends, but I didn't know what to expect," she said.
After the graduation, graduates moved on to the annual parent-sponsored Grad Nite celebration, a tradition which began more than a decade ago to provide an alcohol-free celebration for graduates.
This year's theme was "Planet Hollywood." The school quad was transformed into the trendy restaurant, complete with a replica of the Titanic.
Students dressed in sumo gear and wrestled, had make-overs in the "Beauty and Beast" salon, climbed an iceberg while others watched from the Titanic's deck and danced to live music in "Academy Awards" hall until 5 a.m.